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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448075">in the green, branches arching overhead</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/olga_theodora/pseuds/lachesisgrimm'>lachesisgrimm (olga_theodora)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward virgins in love, Don't copy to another site, F/M, canon AU, no pregnancy but Ben briefly thinks wistfully about it, rey bites out of love, rey queen of droids, space cottagecore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:26:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/olga_theodora/pseuds/lachesisgrimm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When they finally stopped on their obscure planet they were Gan and Ela Beln, and nothing about them- save the kyber inside their weapons, carefully hidden away- had ever belonged to Ben Solo or Rey of Jakku. </p>
<p>(The making of a home, in five scenes.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>349</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in the green, branches arching overhead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/conscious_echo/gifts">conscious_echo</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For conscious_echo, who when I asked for prompts directed me to <a href="https://twitter.com/RamenDoodlesArt/status/1354112143017336833">this</a> piece of fan-art by RamenDoodlesArt. This is more loosely inspired than anything else, but hopefully you still enjoy it! </p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1. <i>maps of rooms just met</i></p>
<p>They didn’t have great deal, when they settled into their self-imposed exile. </p>
<p>They hadn’t had a great deal at the start of their journey, either, having left in the dead of night to escape questions and anger and repercussions, but nearly every bit they had once carried had been systematically and conscientiously replaced. Their stolen ship went first, sold at a scrap-yard to a man who had eyed them both suspiciously. Their clothing- Ben’s black, Rey’s armbands and trailing tops- were traded away shortly after as they darted through system after system, replaced by less identifiable tunics and trousers. Their lightsabers were dismantled and rebuilt from scrap. One ship sold in exchange for another, and another, and another, muddling the trail for anyone who might try to follow, and whatever couldn’t be sold had been jettisoned into the void between stars. </p>
<p>Their names, too, were lost. Rey became Kira and Brenna and Iftish, Ben wore Helden and Lorn and Rast. “What’s my name?” they had both whispered at one time or another into the dark of their bunk, and in that sacred haven the answer had always been true. When they finally stopped on their obscure planet they were Gan and Ela Beln, and nothing about them- save the kyber inside their weapons, carefully hidden away- had ever belonged to Ben Solo or Rey of Jakku. </p>
<p>“Except for each other,” Rey pointed out that first day as drizzling rain obscured the view outside their ship. A vague sense of green was all they could see, could feel: towering trees, downed ships from decades-old battles, the crumbling remains of an Imperial outpost. A port for trading lay several hours away, but where they were had been abandoned to weather and flora and fauna. The outpost, they both thought, could be restored with some work. “Gan.”</p>
<p>She sat stiffly straddling his lap, cheeks pink and fingers clenched in the wash-worn navy of his tunic. There had been little more than rushed kisses on their desperate flight (time for such matters had been scant, and even in their few lulls neither had felt safe enough to relax into more than enjoying the warmth of their shared, cramped bunk) and he knew that for both of them physical affection was still a tentative, giddy matter. “We’re remote enough to keep our names, here,” he murmured, hands curved lightly around her hips. “Outside of the port.”</p>
<p>She softened little by little, leaning into him with her cheek on his shoulder, and when he slipped one hand underneath her tunic to the small of her back she made a yearning sigh. “I’m going to like living where it rains,” was all she said, her breath warm against his neck. </p>
<p>The next morning they mapped out their future home amongst the shadowy, dusty rooms, Rey slipping small bits of old machinery into her pockets- and when she found a carved pendant of some unidentifiable stone, she pressed it into Ben’s hand with a kiss to his cheek. “It looks a little like you,” she explained, only to get distracted by a motionless droid the size of her head half-hidden under a fallen bit of wall. </p>
<p>Over their midday meal, which Rey ate with one hand as she intently examined the rusted innards of the roly-poly droid, he polished the pendant with a rag and strung it on a length of leather cord. After tying it around his neck (and smiling, a little, because the lines worn smooth by time and the fiddling of nervous fingers did rather give an impression of a large nose and long hair), he brushed a kiss over her temple and put another piece of flatbread on her plate. “Thank you, sweetheart.”</p>
<p>Under his tunic, the pendant rested cool against his skin.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>2. <i>under sheltering trees, a place to dream</i></p>
<p>It had been a small outpost to begin with, and the few rooms that could quickly be made habitable made the space even smaller. The fresher and kitchen were both in decent shape, if in need of a good clean; a neighboring room that had probably once been some kind of common area was sturdy enough to be used as their bedroom.</p>
<p>“We’ll retake it all,” Rey said with assurance, voice muffled due to her location halfway inside a cabinet. </p>
<p>Ben, guiltily sneaking a look at her ass, agreed. </p>
<p>Rey understood plumbing and household appliances, for all that she had grown up without consistent access to either for her own personal use. Ben- who could build a ship from scrap if need be, and optimize nearly any weapon put in front of him- had no experience with water heaters or stoves or coldboxes. </p>
<p>He did, however, have at least a basic understanding of how to erect walls and shoal up foundations and patch ceilings. He had built his own little hut at the academy, years before (a lesson, his uncle had claimed, in patience and attention to detail and willingness to serve), and he still had a sense for how a wall should feel, in the Force; how a floor should lay sturdy beneath his feet. As Rey coaxed the appliances into repair, Roly chirping at her heels, he smoothed plaster and caulked drafty windows and scrubbed at grout- and when their bedroom was as safe as he could make it, he collected the ancient paint Rey had found in a storage closet and began to cover the walls with color. The shades available were largely neutral, as befitted the Empire’s aesthetic, but there had been some red, some bright blue, some glaring green doubtless used for signage and odds and ends in less public places. Careful blending gave him darker, softer shades, and (thinking of how Rey’s eyes sparkled when she had first seen the trees, how she lingered in doorways to stretch her hand out to the rain, how she rubbed fallen leaves between her fingers to catch their scent) he filled a wall with a misty forest scene. He would put their bed there, when they had one. </p>
<p>Her arms slipped around him from behind as he took a long, considering look at his creation, a black boot dangling from one of her hands. “It’s beautiful,” she said as he turned in her grasp. “All that green.”</p>
<p>“I thought you might like it.” He gently rubbed a smudge of dirt from her cheek, inadvertently leaving a trace of paint in its place. “Find some new treasures, sweetheart?”</p>
<p>She glowed with pleasure at the endearment, but nonetheless squirmed to look around him at the mural, the boot tapping lightly against his thigh. “It looked large enough for you; if I can find the other you’ll have a spare pair.”</p>
<p>He snagged it from her, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he examined the dusty piece of footwear. Not stormtrooper issue, but something belonging to the upper levels of the hierarchy. This forgotten outpost had at the very least hosted a general or an admiral, once. </p>
<p>“You’re right.” He pressed a kiss to her hair, silently resigning himself to once again walking in the shoes of some long dead man. Their resources were limited; Rey was correct that they couldn’t afford to be picky. “Do you need some help finding the other one? I’m done here.” </p>
<p>“Sure.” She looked up at him, lifting a hand to lightly touch the end of his nose. “You look… rested.” Her fingertips swept gently over the skin under one eye, her gaze soft. “I like seeing you without the shadows.”</p>
<p>She was beginning to look rested, too- rested, and a little fuller in the cheeks, as if finding a save haven had finally allowed her body to do more than run on adrenaline, consuming itself from the inside. Her skin had lost the pallor of space, her freckles were once more constellations of gold. Rey breathed a little laugh when he ducked his head and moved his lips over the spray of freckles on one cheek, tasting dirt and sweat and her. </p>
<p>“Ben.”</p>
<p>He had so rarely heard her voice so quiet, so gentle, before their escape. In the last days of the war every word had been as strained and taut as the stringed instruments that had fascinated him as a child, each syllable sharp and almost seeming to vibrate. Ben had no doubt that the strings still lay deep within her, waiting to be plucked (and he loved her at her harshest, even as he loved her tremulous little whispers as his lips caressed her skin), but watching her shift to woodwinds and brightly struck keys was an ever-unfolding joy. </p>
<p>“Show me,” he murmured, letting the boot drop and bravely skimming his hands down her sides. “I’ll help you search.”</p>
<p>She led him away, pink staining her cheeks and a grin curving her mouth, and by the time they went to bed a pair of battered boots sat neatly with Ben’s small pile of possessions, carefully rubbed clean of dust and cobwebs. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>3. <i>one day, the taste of fruit</i></p>
<p>Rey’s findings were separated into heaps, when they were small enough to be moved: springs and coils and wires, plugs and chips and random bits of metal. Some were set aside for sale with the rest for their own use, and she unerringly picked just the right piece needed for her repairs or to give an increasingly active Roly an upgrade. </p>
<p>“That droid is in love with you,” Ben teased her one morning as they lounged on the floor drinking the last of the caf, nudging Roly with his toes and smiling at the indignant trill. “Absolutely devoted.”</p>
<p>She didn’t deny the claim, but instead tipped her head back with a thoughtful expression. “Hard to tell what purpose it served, once.” She idly tickled the top of Roly’s dome when it butted against her hip. “Memory chips corrupted; the only remaining programs companion-related.” Her gaze slid to him, extending her hand palm up into the space between them. “I think Roly was someone’s friend… maybe a diary of some sort.”</p>
<p>It still thrilled, taking her hand in his own. Setting aside his mug he leaned toward her on one elbow, pressing a kiss into her calloused palm. “Perhaps.” Someone who had lived at the outpost, or someone who had been imprisoned there. They would likely never know. “Does it worry you?”</p>
<p>“No. It makes me a little sad, I suppose… as if it might still miss whoever once owned it.” She kept her hand in his, but watched as Roly looped around the room, chirping. “I’ve heard droids cry,” Rey continued quietly, almost to herself. “I’ve heard them scream when Plutt took them apart for scrap.”</p>
<p>Once, he had thought that Rey had little because she had gone without for so long; now he knew that she carried little because she cared too much. It hurt her to lose what little she had after years of parceling away whatever she might find precious in exchange for a meal or medicine or water; it hurt her to see someone or something weaker in pain. A small droid useful for only trailing at her heels and trilling would be patted and cosseted until its core wore away, and long before that day she would on some level be waiting for its inevitable loss. </p>
<p>Ben thought that maybe- likely- Rey carried that same fear about him deep in her heart. </p>
<p>He certainly carried it for her. </p>
<p>“Sweetheart.” Her blushing smile had him kissing her palm again. “I’m going to fly to the port. We need a few things.” </p>
<p>Rey’s face was arguably more famous than his; so many years of wearing a mask had given him that advantage. She bit her bottom lip briefly before nodding, hand tensing in his grip. “Maybe you… you could find some oss wire for me.” She looked toward Roly again, the lines of her body taut. “Every bit I’ve found here is rusted through.” </p>
<p>“I’ll do my best.” </p>
<p>She kept her gaze on Roly when he released her hand, but the moment he moved to sit beside her, hip to hip, she looked up with eyes that held fear for all that her features were otherwise set in a stalwart calm. “You can feel me, sweetheart,” he murmured, a hitch in his voice. “I’ll be back by end of day, thinking of you all the while.”</p>
<p>“I know.” Belief, but with the shadow of long-held uncertainty underneath. “We-”</p>
<p>She took in a breath, fingertips gliding over his knee. “We’ve been here for weeks and you haven’t tried to rut me, yet.”</p>
<p>He could feel an intense blush flood over his skin even as an image of an oft-considered longing flashed in his mind: himself between Rey’s thighs, catching her cries with his mouth as his hips moved against her own. “Rut?” </p>
<p>Rey scowled, hand settling into a firm grip. “You have fancy words, don’t you?”</p>
<p>He was careful, in his response- or as careful as he could be when he loved her so much that words trembled on the tip of his tongue, that emotions strained against the leash he held in consideration of the marvelous bond between them. “Just different terms.” Ben dipped his head, brushing a kiss over her cheek. “Sex. Making love.”</p>
<p>She looked rather starry, for all that she still wore a half-scowl. “I have an implant, you know.”</p>
<p>“So do I.” He would have it cut out, if she ever asked him. He’d give her a round belly, a child for them both to protect and rock to sleep and love- and he thought she might, one day. He hoped that she would. “First we didn’t have time.” Another kiss, and with it she made a quiet, soft sigh. “And we barely fit on the ship bunk as it is.”</p>
<p>“You make me hot.” Rey didn’t try to veil the words with metaphor as her hand slid up his thigh; if anything she sounded grumpy. “And wet.”</p>
<p>He wanted badly to jerk her hand up higher over his aching erection. “I- I didn’t-”</p>
<p>Her inquisitive look and pink cheeks had his breath escaping in a rush. “I want for us to have softness and warmth,” he muttered. “No dust, no hurry. No sudden alarms.” Roly knocked over his caf, lukewarm liquid spreading over the floor, but Ben kept his gaze square with Rey’s own. “There hasn’t been a day that has gone by for- for a while- where I haven’t thought about how I might please you.”</p>
<p>Rey’s scowl slowly shifted to a small, hesitant smile. “So you do want to have me like that?”</p>
<p>“Badly.”</p>
<p>She tipped her head in a slight nod, and then kissed his chin. “Bring me the oss wire? And- and maybe some seeds. We should start a garden.” </p>
<p>He had seen a garden, with that first touch of their hands: lush plants growing in wide, messy plots, with pathways large enough for two and the flit of a bright skirt just behind a stand of towering grain. The vision had been so strong that he had been able to feel the brush of new growth against the back of his hand, smell the rain-soaked earth under his feet. He had dreamed of that garden- the garden, and the peace he had felt for that brief handful of seconds before his uncle had brought panic through the door- ever since. </p>
<p>In the bustle of the spaceport, where beings taller and broader than him walked through the market and attracted far more attention, Ben bought oss wire and caf and native seedlings, soft blankets and bread starters and a green dress that he couldn’t walk away from. In the back of his mind (a mind that still felt empty, with the voices gone) Rey’s warmth burned the way a fire looked: bright, soothing ribbons licking and easing the loneliest parts of him, filling the void.</p>
<p>(“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Rey had muttered, half-asleep and crammed against the wall, when he had finally admitted being disconcerted by the lack. “Different, isn’t it? All that silence.”</p>
<p>“My thoughts rattle,” had been his spiritless rejoinder, trying to shift himself so that she had a little more room, a little more comfort. “There’s no buffer.”</p>
<p>She had growled under her breath, teeth nipping bloodlessly at the skin under his arm. “You’ll make one.”)</p>
<p>He came home- <i>home</i>- to lights in the reinforced slits that were windows, to Roly whistling like an old-fashioned kettle through the grass, to Rey kissing him as if he had just come home from a years-long war. </p>
<p>“I found the oss wire,” he told her, gently wiping away the tear that slipped down her cheek. </p>
<p>Rey made what sounded like a choked sob, her rough-cut nails digging into his shirt. “I think I burned dinner.”</p>
<p>He ate every bite, crunching through not-quite-blackened protein substitute, and did so happily. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>4. <i>where we lay our heads</i></p>
<p>The day Rey put the last touches on the heating and cooling system was the day they moved their sleeping quarters from the ship to the outpost. They had no bed-frame- the bunks they had found, when not built into the walls themselves, were only built for single occupants- but after scrubbing the floor they created a pallet from the ship’s mattress and two others they had found sealed in storage smelling of nothing worse than stale air. With the addition of every blanket and pillow they owned they soon had a nest, and in the dark of night the two lanterns on the floor made towering shadows of Ben’s painted trees. </p>
<p>“Can I still touch you?” Rey asked as they faced each other uncertainly, the bed between them and Roly shut out in the hall. </p>
<p>“I wish you would.”</p>
<p>She smiled a little at his fervent reply, fingers worrying at the hem of her tunic. “All this space… I wasn’t sure.”</p>
<p>He had slept in bigger beds, but compared to the ship’s bunk their nest was a luxurious expanse that might allow a gap of an inch between them if they both lay very still. “I would miss you.” Carefully he knelt on the edge, holding out a hand to her. “Are you tired?”</p>
<p>“No.” Still wearing that smile she crawled over the surface to join him, taking his hand in hers. “It’s soft and warm,” she murmured. “And we have quiet.” With a kiss to his scraped knuckles her gaze turned questioning, one brow arching up. “Will you rut with me, Ben?”</p>
<p>In answer he leaned in, lightly bumping the tip of his nose against hers with a whispered, “Please.”</p>
<p>His knowledge was academic, hers seemed to be instinctual. She drew him down in a confusion of fumbling hands and awkwardly placed limbs, the first touch of her bare belly against his own (their clothing rucked up, her fingers tugging demandingly at his) making him gasp into a kiss that neither of them could seem to end. With a nip to his lower lip Rey dragged up his shirt, breaking them apart. </p>
<p>“The first time I saw you like this,” she said, shoving at his bare chest and scrambling on top of him, “even then, I still wanted to touch.” She mapped him out with her fingertips, flicking at the pendant, her breathing just as ragged as his own. “I wanted to taste. It scared the kriff out of me.”</p>
<p>“Rey.” It was hard to speak at all with her thumb circling gently around one nipple, her hips just beginning to rock against his stomach. “I want to touch <i>you</i>.”</p>
<p>There was a brief, brief moment when her eyes widened, as if momentarily flustered, but then she stripped off her tunic in one smooth motion, leaving her in only a breast band and leggings. He had seen her in that little before, during their flight- impossible not to, in such a cramped space- but he had always averted his eyes as best he could. In the light of the lanterns he allowed himself to memorize everything he had done his best to ignore: the spots where her tan met protected, pale skin, the scars both thin and thick from old wounds, the tattoos on her arms that marked her as a formerly indentured scavenger, all debts paid. He skimmed a hand up the arm that bore Plutt’s name, stopping to smooth his thumb over her scar from the throne room. “You’re lovely.”</p>
<p>She blushed, tugging the end of her breast band free. “Flatterer.”</p>
<p>“Beautiful.” Tickling the tuft of hair under one arm, he listened with pleasure to her snicker. “Desirable. My-”</p>
<p>The folds of fabric fell around her waist, baring her breasts and startling him into awed silence. “Yours,” Rey said with a shrug, “are bigger.”</p>
<p>He couldn’t help himself: he snorted, laughing as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her. She was warm, her hair still damp from a shower, and she squeaked when he licked a stripe up her neck. “I think they deserve some attention,” he murmured against her skin, ducking his neck to nuzzle at her breasts. </p>
<p>Whatever she started to say came to naught, the opening syllable turning to a choked little sound when he closed his mouth around one peak and sucked. Emboldened by the clutch of her hands on his shoulders, the taste and feel of her on his tongue, the squirm of her hips, he lifted a hand to cup her other breast and toy gently with the nipple. </p>
<p>“You- you nerfherder,” she said on a sigh and a whimper, the words utterly without heat, and he grinned around her flesh feeling as if he could spend hours exploring just her breasts- but then she ground down against his erection with a breathless growl and his mind blanked. </p>
<p>It was a loving tussle, after that: Rey tumbling him back down and yanking at the fastenings of his pants, him shoving at the waistband of her leggings and swearing dazedly under his breath when he caught a glimpse of the damp patch on her underwear. With a hand wrapped in the folds of fabric still at her waist he rolled on top of her, one bare leg pressed firmly against the apex of her thighs. </p>
<p>“If you don’t get out of your kriffing clothes,” she threatened, eyes bright and hips rocking, “I’ll bite you.”</p>
<p>“Is that a promise, sweetheart?”</p>
<p>She laughed and so did he, loudly and helplessly unable to stop as they untangled themselves just long enough to get rid of every scrap of fabric between them. “All over,” she said with a snorting giggle, tossing her underwear away and flopping naked onto her back with her legs sprawled open, holding out her arms to him. She was a vision of gold and pale skin, of black ink and thin white lines and freckles, the curls between her legs damp with want. “I’ll set my teeth into every inch of you.”</p>
<p>His laughter died as he settled between her legs, replaced by a swell of emotion so tender he nearly wept. “Well,” he said in a choked voice, angling his head to the side and touching the crook of his neck, “start here.”</p>
<p>She didn’t bite him when he slowly pushed inside of her, their fingers laced together above her head and her breath coming fast. </p>
<p>She didn’t bite him when he panted praise into her hair, a whine building in her own throat as her trembling legs and thighs wrapped tightly around his waist. </p>
<p>It was when she came- suddenly and surprisingly after a slight change in angle, her heel digging into his ass- that she bit him hard enough to bruise, a wave of possessive triumph rocketing over the bond and catching him off-guard. He spilled inside of her with a yelp, senses blissfully overwhelmed and vision fairly blurring. </p>
<p>“Ben,” she said in a slow, luxuriously pleased tone as he lay slumped on top of her, her fingertips gliding down his spine, “<i>Ben.</i>” Her legs loosened, her arms wrapped tenderly around him. “I love you,” she said more quietly, playing with his hair. “More than water. More than food.”</p>
<p>Between joy and exertion he couldn’t quite breathe, and briefly panicked that he might have forgotten how before air came in a rush. “I love you too, sweetheart.” Kissing her softly, he shifted to his side and cuddled her close. “More than the unnumbered stars.”</p>
<p>He wore his shirt with the collar open until the bruise disappeared, Rey kissing the spot each and every day- and when the mark faded, she gave him another after he drew her down to their bed with a sheepish grin and a whispered, “<i>Please.</i>”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>5. <i>that tune we hum on lazy days</i></p>
<p>In the process of cleaning out a fourth room Rey found a handful of small treasures amidst the scrap and detritus that might or might not be useful: a perfectly preserved memory chip, a short chain of delicate links and green stones, and a pair of black suspenders that she promptly handed over to him. The pair he had escaped with had long ago been traded away and he hadn’t planned on replacing them, but for her he wore them over a gray undershirt and was rewarded with a fierce kiss, her hands wrapped firmly around the straps. </p>
<p>“You like them?” he asked after, backing her against a nearby wall. </p>
<p>“Useful.” She tugged on the straps again with a smirk, pulling him down to her level. “Tall as you are.”</p>
<p>The jewelry he cleaned, bit by bit, buffing away tarnish and dirt to reveal the subdued gleam of silver and emerald. It was worth something, he was sure- winter would come soon enough, and Rey needed a coat- but the nearly hidden yearning in her eyes on seeing the finished product had him changing his mind. There were other things to sell, among Rey’s carefully scavenged hoard; she had already set aside a whole pile for the next time he went to port. In bed that night he clasped the chain around her bare ankle before kissing his way up her legs, nuzzling at the crease behind her knee when she thanked him with shy pleasure. </p>
<p>She wore the anklet around their home, after that, the delicate chain slipping over her bare skin or tucked under her socks. In bed it was all she kept on when they had sex, the metal glinting in the light and brushing against his skin when they were twined together. </p>
<p>“I never knew I could be so hungry for this,” she admitted in a whisper one night in the dark, her chest pressed against his back. “Sometimes I see you working, all sweaty and tired, your sleeves rolled up…”</p>
<p>He cupped the hand that lay against his chest, her fingers trustingly lax under his. “Hmm?”</p>
<p>“And I always want to push you down right there, in the dirt and rain.” He felt her brush a kiss against his skin, as light as a butterfly wing. </p>
<p>“Whenever I see you on your knees I want to pull down your clothes and take you from behind,” he confessed in a murmur, stroking her fingers. “When you hum over your caf in the morning I want to press my face between your legs.”</p>
<p>She huffed a laugh, nipping at the nape of his neck. “Amazing we ever get anything done.”</p>
<p>“But we have time.”</p>
<p>“Yes.” She was soft and warm behind him, her words tinged with sleep. “We do.”</p>
<p>And when the memory chip, inserted into one of Roly’s spare slots, proved to be full of music- music he hadn’t heard since he was a small child, watching his parents laugh and dance around the living room- he pulled his sweetheart into his arms, both of them barefoot in the grass and Rey wearing the green dress, its full skirt catching the breeze with each turn. </p>
<p>“Taking your hand was the best decision I ever made,” he told her as he cinched an arm around her back, Roly overlaying the dramatic romantic ballad with a whistle. </p>
<p>She glowed in the sun, her smile so bright and so sure that his breath caught in his throat. “Offering it was mine.” Humming off-key, she lifted to her toes. “Thank you for running with me.”</p>
<p>He kissed her in the grass, at peace in their safe little corner of the universe and no voices in his mind save his own.</p>
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